Does anyone not eat the WDW Food?

[TCRAIG]

We rarely eat in the parks - food just isn’t that good and too expensive. We’re DVC and drive in so we usually either eat in our condo or go outside the World for other/better dining.

 

[Octoberbaby]

It wouldn't feel like a vacation if we didn't eat Disney food! I cook enough at home....and definitely do not want to carry food into the park and deal with that. I don't want sandwiches and such either while I'm on vacation...I want food that I don't know how to cook lol. Even when we go to the beach the only meal we prepare ourselves is breakfast. I go on vacation to relax and enjoy things that I can't enjoy while at home.

 

[Anchored]

We usually eat breakfast from the room
A counter service lunch and a mix of on and off property for dinner (we always have a car)
We are a family of 6, it's cost prohibitive to eat disney meals 3x a day - but I won't cook on vacation

 

[HaliLan029]

As a kid going to WDW with my family, we ate one big meal a day in the park... which was usually dinner. The rest we snacked or made something quick in the room. We never knew any different or felt deprived

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We eat very little Disney food. Sometimes we bring food and put it in a locker but our new trend is to go back to the room for sandwiches or cereal. We have a car so we just go somewhere for dinner
Sometimes we get mickey pretzels, basket of fries or ice cream. Going to Disney on a budget is the only way we can go.
Last March we broke down and ate lunch at Docking bay 7.

 

[puffkin]

When given the choice of eating in the parks all the time or having a longer trip/going more often, the family ALWAYS chooses the latter. Having done most of the dining experiences on property, the food just isn't that good.

We are DVC so we usually do a mix. We typically eat all breakfasts in the room (we are cereal/poptart type people). We have a few favorite restuarants/quick service that we sprinkle in. We ALWAYS pack sandwiches at the water parks. Sometimes we eat offsite chain restuarants, especially if there are good gift card deals. We cook a few dinners in the room. Usually on those nights, we do a big snack then in the parks, which my kids prefer over meals. And finally, my DS7 is very picky, so I pack most of his meals even if we do eat at a restaurant. I refuse to pay $10 for an uncrustable. We also find we eat less meals when it is really hot, we just don't get that hungry.

 

[AP1209]

When we go on vacation we never cook food and pack very few snacks. For us part of the vacation is not cooking or preparing meals.

 

[Traveling on cc points]

We will usually have 1 or 2 dinners at Disney springs and 1 breakfast on property but we eat around 80% of our meals off property.

It isn’t really a cost savings once you add in the Uber/rental costs but it gives us much better food options for a similar cost.

 

[TCRAIG]

We rarely eat in the parks - food just isn’t that good and too expensive. We’re DVC and drive in so we usually either eat in our condo or go outside the World for other/better dining.

Also - it’s just the 2 of us and I never cook at home. We’ll make bacon, egg and cheese bagels for breakfast and do QS for lunch and then a really nice offsite meal. We don’t carry food into the parks. We will usually do a couple onsite sit down meals (The Wave, Via Napoli, LLT or SciFi) but it’s just not a big part of our day. Disney sit down meals for us are just too rushed or noisy and we’re not really foodies...I just refuse to pay ‘Ruth Chris’ prices for a ‘Texas Roadhouse’ steak - and in truth - I’ve had better steaks at Texas Roadhouse than at Le Cellier (for example).

 

[gharter]

Other than an occasional Boma breakfast, breakfast is usually food we have brought to the resort.
Lunch and dinner are at a park or resort restaurant.

 

[MomOTwins]

For me it is really not about the food (though there are some places the food is great). We enjoy the restaurant themes, the convenience of dining in the park, and most of all NO cooking and cleaning. Plus there's something kind of fun and indulgent and vacation-y about eating three-course meals with cocktails every day (which is why DDP was such a good deal for us. *sigh*).

With housekeeping reduced to every other day, I'm not sure I'd like a bunch of stinky food trash sitting around in my resort room garbage can for 48 hours either.

 

[Shellyred8]

Out of Pure curiosity that was spawned by me when planning my last Disney Trip.
Does anyone out there not eat the park food at all? I mean bring their own food in, and go back to hotel and make their own food?

Whats your experiences with not eating their, is that more planning??

When it's just DH and I, we usually eat at the parks or the resorts. I'm on vacation...I don't want to cook.
However, when I went with my cousin and her twin toddlers, that was a whole different story. We were in a 1br DVC, so we had a full kitchen to store fridge/freezer items. So, we had breakfast in the room every morning. Some days we had lunch in the room, some days we had dinner in the room. It depended on where we were at and how the kiddos were doing. She also brought lots of snacks to the park for them. It was pretty hot out when we were there, so they tended to eat more smaller snacks than bigger meals. So, she had to make sure she had lots of healthier snacks with for when they decided they were hungry.

It did require a bit more planning, but it wasn't horrible.

 

[karen4546]

I feel like every trip I plan to eat most breakfasts in the room and get things like instant oatmeal cups, yogurt, etc from Instacart for it but then I never actually end up eating it.

We do that too !! I order groceries and then at the end, I do a FB post and try to give it all away to some other guests. Last year we have beer, bourbon, frozen Ham & cheese croissants, muffins etc. We saw a man, woman, and one child sitting at a table at the BC and offered the items to him. He said he really needed a drink right then.... it was 10 am lol. He was most appreciative of the bourbon and beer.

I will add that we bought the Jimmy Dean scrambles in a cup. they were quick and easy to make. My husband is a farmer and he thought the "crack an egg" cups would be better but he said the JD ones are better and easier too.

 

[karen4546]

For me it is really not about the food (though there are some places the food is great). We enjoy the restaurant themes, the convenience of dining in the park, and most of all NO cooking and cleaning. Plus there's something kind of fun and indulgent and vacation-y about eating three-course meals with cocktails every day (which is why DDP was such a good deal for us. *sigh*).

With housekeeping reduced to every other day, I'm not sure I'd like a bunch of stinky food trash sitting around in my resort room garbage can for 48 hours either.

you can take your trash out or catch one of the mouse keepers and they will take it for you. I don't like any food left in the trash and that is what we do. There always seem to be a housekeeper available.

 

[puffkin]

you can take your trash out or catch one of the mouse keepers and they will take it for you. I don't like any food left in the trash and that is what we do. There always seem to be a housekeeper available.

Agreed. All the DVC resorts especially have trash rooms on every floor. We usually take our trash out once a day and drop it in the trash room on the way out to a park.

 

[Poohspaleeyore]

To us dining at Disney always enhanced the Disney experience. Our kids are grown up and do not really care for character meals anymore.but when they were small it just added something so special to our vacation and will always be remembered . Without character meals and considering that My family Are picky eaters, we often find the menus in the parks somewhat limited. We like Disney springs, it's our favorite place to find interesting appealing food for dinner with larger selections . 50s prime time was a favorite to. i love the nostalgia of hollywood studios. when we were there before thanksgiving last year it was fun just to sit on the benches at hollywood studios and see what happened. we had some interesting interactions.

 

[MomOTwins]

you can take your trash out or catch one of the mouse keepers and they will take it for you. I don't like any food left in the trash and that is what we do. There always seem to be a housekeeper available.

I thought I read that all interaction with the housekeepers had to be contactless (e.g., they will drop off towels outside your door, but won't enter an occupied room).

 

[karen4546]

I thought I read that all interaction with the housekeepers had to be contactless (e.g., they will drop off towels outside your door, but won't enter an occupied room).

then just leave it outside your door or beside their cart. they will get it.

 

[pineapplepalms]

I bring lunch most days to work because I'm an avid home cook and because I work in an expensive area. But I do this so that when I travel, I eat what I want when I want. So food is a big part of the experience for us when we go to WDW. And like...I'm a native NYer, live in the restaurant capital of the world, we have access to every type of cuisine imaginable at every conceivable price point. I'm not a food snob, I've eaten at everything from Michelin starred fine dining establishments on down to the halal cart outside my office and enjoyed them. Disney food is fine for what it is and we enjoy it. And I don't find it especially overpriced either compared to home. The bowls at Satuli are just about what bowls go for at the local places around my job, as one example. Sometimes QS lunch is cheaper, lol.

Definitely agree. I don't feel like having really good food elsewhere diminishes my enjoyment of the food at WDW. It's part of the whole vacation experience. I don't find the food overall horrendously overpriced (also live in an expensive area) and we can always find something we like that is actually really great and not just mediocre. While I agree that not all character meals have the best food and are on the pricier side, in those cases we think of it more as paying for the whole package and not just the food since it's really fun for our kids to meet the characters, plus they love buffet food options. Some of our favorites at WDW are Homecomin' (a must at least once every trip), Sanaa, Jaleo... I could also always go for a Ronto wrap or a bowl at Satu'li or something from Tangierine Cafe. Lots of great options.

We will often do breakfast in the room since it's just easier with little ones, and coming from the west coast we're not always up bright and early at WDW. But usually lunch and dinner are out and about whether in the parks, at resorts, or at DS. We do bring lots of the snacks for the kids around with us though, since a lot of the theme park snacks aren't great for young ones like our 1 year old.

 

[Tallis]

While I have eaten at most WDW places, I haven't in the past 10 years or so. Now I eat at Yorkshire County Fish Shop once (last time twice) per trip. Other than that, I eat at our camper in Fort Wilderness. I'm not a big fan of Disney Food. I don't even like Dole Whips or Mickey Bars.

Oh, almost forgot! I do enjoy the flavored popcorn at the stand between The Land And Figment building.